Notice Me
by EverydayGeek
Summary: Rachel Berry has had a crush on Quinn Fabray for as long as she can remember. The downside to this obvious crush is that Quinn doesn't seem to know that Rachel exists. With the help of Rachel's best friend, Santana, the two come up with a few odd, yet interesting plans to get Quinn to notice Rachel. Will these plans help Rachel get the girl? Or will she remain unnoticed?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey everyone! This is my third fanfiction. I am currently still working on my other fic "Changing Paths" but I decided I wanted to write a new one just because lol. I hope you all enjoy this one. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or any of it's characters.**

**Chapter 1**

"Ask her out!"

"No!"

"Just do it!"

"I can't!"

"Why the hell not?!"

"Because!"

"_Because_ is not a good enough excuse, Berry! You've been crushing on Quinn for 6 freaking years! You've been talking my ear off about her for just as long. Why don't you grow some balls and go ask her out. She is sitting _right there_, completely _alone_. Now is your chance! So go!" Santana yells, completely frustrated with me. I stand in place, keeping my feet planted firmly on the ground, and my chin stuck up in the air defiantly. Santana narrows her eyes at me and crosses her arms across her chest, while sizing me up. This is what I'd like to call the _Lopez No-Nonsense _stance. For as long as I can remember, I have seen both Santana and her mother get into this stance when they mean business and judging by the hard look in Santana's eyes…she definitely means business.

I have been best friends with Santana since the first day of kindergarten. We met by the slides, during recess. Azimio Adams, had pushed me down into the sand, called me stupid and insulted my nose. Santana, who was nearby at the time, punched Azimio in the nose, then pushed him into the sand and told him that he was "stupider". Azimio had run off, crying to the teacher and Santana had helped me up and told me that I was pretty and that she thought my nose was cute. She then asked me if I wanted to play with her and be her best friend, and of course, I readily agreed. Besides elementary school, Santana and I attended the same middle school, high school and now, college. We grew up together in Bumfuck, Ohio but managed to make it out, once we graduated. We currently attend New York University and are in our third year. I am a theatre major and Santana is a pre-med major. Quinn Fabray, my ultimate crush, also attended high school with us and is now attending NYU with us. Not once have her and I ever spoken a word to each other. I'm pretty sure that she doesn't know I exist. Even though, I know that there have been multiple chances for me to get noticed by her, I've been way too much of a chicken shit to approach her. Kind of like right now.

"Santana! I can't." I whine to her pathetically. She rolls her eyes at me and grabs me by my shoulders, forcing me to look her in the eye.

"You _can_ and you _will_. Look, Berry, I admit that you can be extremely irritating sometimes and your Barbra obsession is bordering on creepy _but_ you are extremely lovable and beneath all of the argyle and knee high socks, is an extremely hot 20 year old girl, with a bangin' body, who is ready to get down and dirty. You have to have more confidence in yourself, Rachel! Now look, Quinn is still sitting alone. Now is your chance to let your existence be known to her. I believe in you, midget." Santana says sincerely with a small hint of amusement in her tone.

"I ca—

Before I can get the rest of my sentence out, Santana pushes me forward, causing me to bump into Quinn's table. The movement of the table, as I crash into it, causes Quinn's eyes to snap up to mine in a questioning manner.

"Are you okay?" The hazel-eyed beauty asks me. I nod my head slowly, a bit dazed by the fact that she's even acknowledging my existence right now. She eyes me curiously for a minute, before turning back to her book. I stand there, silently observing her. I'm willing my mouth to say something—_anything-_-but no words come out. I just look like a total creeper, standing over her table, and watching her every move, completely open-mouthed. Quinn looks up from her book again, when she notices I'm still standing there. She looks at me with pursed lips and a quizzical stare. "Is there something that you needed?" She asks, with a perfectly manicured eyebrow, raised.

"N-no. I'm sorry. I gotta go!" I tell her nervously. I turn around and practically run to the table where Santana is now seated. Once I approach the table, Santana is already looking at me with an expression that is a mixture of disappointment and amusement.

"Good going, hobbit. Now she thinks you're a bumbling idiot." Santana says in a sarcastic tone, rolling her eyes at me.

"Well maybe next time, you shouldn't push me into her table!" I huff at her, crossing my arms across my chest with a pout fixed upon my lips.

"How else am I going to get you to talk to her? We've been going to school with Quinn Fabray since the 9th grade and in case you haven't noticed, we are now in our third year of college. You've been crushing on her since way back then and have never made the effort to talk to her. I am not about to let you waste another 6 years wondering 'what if?'" Santana says to me.

"You're right."

"I know I am. I am _always_ right!" Santana says to me arrogantly. I roll my eyes at her. She is what I like to call the embodiment of modesty. (That was totally meant to be sarcastic. Santana is everything _but_ modest.)

"Even though you're right, it doesn't mean that I'll successfully get Quinn to _really_ notice me. I mean, after what just happened a few moments ago, I'm sure she'll just see me as that weirdo who bumped into her table and stared at her unabashedly." I grumble lowly.

"Yeah, that might be true... But seriously, Rach, I am all for helping you get the girl but if you're not willing to cooperate and help yourself along the way, then there is no way that Quinn will notice you and want to give you the time of day. I say, we come up with a plan to get that blonde-haired, hazel-eyed, goddess, to want to get to know you. I am pretty sure that once you are on her radar, your chances of getting her to go out with you will be a lot higher. So what do you say, midge? Are you ready to stop being invisible and finally get noticed?" Santana asks me with a challenging look. I look at her and hold her gaze, refusing to back down. Okay, challenge accepted.

"Okay. I'm ready. What's the plan?" Santana smirks mischievously at me and I can tell just by the look she's giving me, that I won't like what she has planned.

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_Later that day_

"Okay, so I've done a little research on Quinn." Santana starts out. I look at her pointedly.

"Research?"

"Okay, so I have done a little bit of _stalking_ Quinn." She says instead. I roll me eyes at her. Of course, she did. "And I have learned a few of her hangout spots, besides the student lounge. It looks like she frequents the Starbucks in Miller Hall at least twice a day. Also, while I was walking behind her, while she was on the way to whatever class she had, I noticed an open mic night, poetry slam flyer in her hand. When I spotted the flyer, a light bulb flicked on in my head. Quinn always did strike me as the type who was into the artsy fartsy, tortured poet, type of person. So I thought, why not sign you up for the open mic night. So that's what I did. You have the third slot." My eyes bug out of my head at that.

"YOU DID WHAT?! Santana! Why would you do that?! I don't even like poetry!" I yell at her in disbelief. She just shrugs at me and flashes me a smirk.

"Well tough shit, midge. You're going to do it. Open mic night is tomorrow night at 7. It's 6 pm now, so you have a full 25 hours to write out a decent 2 minute poem. Quinn will be there in that audience, watching you and listening to your every word. If that doesn't motivate you to write an amazing ass poem, then I don't know what will. Get to work!" Santana says to me, clapping her hands in a hurrying manner, before slipping out the front door, of our shared apartment. I watch after her in disbelief, my jaw practically hanging to the ground.

It is official: I hate her. I really _really_ do. At least for right now, I do. Ugh. She is unbelievable and _not_ in a good way.

I pull out a blank sheet of printer paper and uncap my ballpoint pen. What do I write a poem about? Majority of everyone writes their poems about love, sex, hate, poverty, captivity, and death. So what is it that I can write about that will make me stand out from the crowd and get Quinn to notice me?

After about two hours of staring at the blank sheet of paper and reeling my mind for topics to write a good poem on, a subject finally hits me. I take up my ballpoint pen and begin scribbling down, what I think will be, the best poem ever.

Quinn won't know what hit her.

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_Next Night—Open Mic Night_

"You ready for this, midge?" Santana asks me quietly, as we sit in a couch near the stage, where the 1st person up at the mic is acting out their poem.

"Yes. I am definitely ready." I tell her confidently. Santana looks at me, impressed by my newfound confidence.

"Well, I'm glad. What's your poem about anyway?" She asks me curiously.

"It's a surprise. You'll hear it when I go up." I tell her smoothly. She just nods at that and turns her attention towards the stage where the first performer is finishing up their poem. Once the performer is done, everyone in the audience snaps their fingers as a way of applause. I take that opportunity to look around the audience around me. There's maybe 50 people here, at most. From here, I can spot Quinn sitting at a nearby table with two females, one Asian and one African American. I believe the Asian one's name is Tina, which I only know because we share an acting class together. I believe the African American girl's name is, Mercedes. She's in my voice class, and definitely has an amazing voice which is about as good as mine or maybe even better.

I take a few more seconds to drool over Quinn. She looks beautiful. Her short and shaggy blonde hair is stylishly messy, while she is wearing a beige low-cut v neck blouse and tight black, skinny jeans, paired with strappy beige heels. From what I can tell, in this dim lighting, her make up looks done to perfection. It's done so lightly and naturally, that you can hardly tell she's wearing makeup in the first place. I am literally snapped out of my Quinn-induced haze by Santana snapping her fingers, repeatedly, in front of my face, trying to capture my attention.

"What?" I ask her, completely annoyed at being interrupted out of my Quinn ogling.

"It's your turn." She tells me. I blink rapidly at her and snap my eyes to the stage. I see the second person, a Goth looking girl dressed in all-black, stepping off the stage. When the hell did she even go up there?

"Okay, so filling up our third slot, is Rachel Berry. Come on up, Rachel. Everyone, give Rachel a very warm welcome." The announcer on the stage says. Everyone snaps their fingers in applause and I get up from my spot on the couch, Santana whispering a 'good luck' in my ear. As I step onto the stage, my eyes get blurred by the bright light shining on me. As my eyes adjust to the lighting, I look out into the crowd and spot Santana right in front me, holding a thumbs up at me. I smile at her before my eyes settle on Quinn. Quinn is looking at me curiously, as if she has seen me before but isn't quite sure. I take a deep breath and think to myself: "After tonight, Quinn will definitely remember who I am."

"Hello, everyone. I am Rachel Berry and my poem is called: _Only Child_. I hope some of you can relate to this." I tell them in my smooth, jazzy voice.

"_You've got just one egg  
You're not going to make an omelette  
Flying just one way  
You're not going to make a jet set_

_Sister, brother, wherefore art thou?  
No need for bunk beds in my bedroom now_

_Oh, damn you, dads  
Why did you settle for only me?_

_I'm an only child  
More than enough for them, but not enough for me_

_Only child, only child, only child_

_The only Berry on my family tree"_

"I am an only child." I say finishing off. As I finish the poem, there is dead silence. I look at Santana and she is staring at me in disbelief, while the people surrounding her, are snorting in laughter. I look to Quinn's table to see her and her friends, looking completely befuddled. I quickly make my way down the steps at the side of the stage and plop down on the seat next to Santana.

"Well, that was….yeah. Let's give a warm round of applause to Ms. Rachel Berry." The announcer guy says unsurely. The people in the audience, politely snap their fingers and my cheeks flush in embarrassment.

"I thought you're poem was going to be good? What was that crap?" Santana asks in a frantic whisper. I pout at that. I thought it was good.

"I didn't think it was crap. I actually put thought and effort into it. You're the one who signed me up for this!" I tell her both sadly and accusingly, the pout becoming even more evident on my lips. Santana lets out a defeated sigh.

"You're right. I'm sorry. Maybe we should take a different approach…" Santana suggests.

"Like what, exactly?"

"I don't know. I guess the type of approach that won't make Quinn think that you're an idiot. Which I assure you, she definitely does." Santana says to me. I look behind me, at Quinn's table to see her and her friends stealing glances at me and giggling. I let out a sad sigh and slide myself further into the couch. Santana looks at me with sympathetic eyes. "We'll come up with something else tomorrow. You _will _get your girl, Rachel. I promise."

**A/N: I hope you all like this so far. Shall I continue or nah? Lol Btw, in case you don't know, **_**Only Child**_** was one of the original songs that Rachel wrote in season 2. I do not own it. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay so it looks like I will continue this. Just a heads up, this story is most likely going to be a short one lol. I'm still currently working on my other story, so updates may or may not be as frequent as I'd like them to be, but they'll still be a lot quicker than most people's, so I guess it's okay lol. So here you go!**

**Chapter 2**

_Next Morning_

"Okay, Rachel, I think I've come up with an awesome new plan!" Santana says, bursting through the bathroom door without warning. I am currently standing outside of the shower, completely nude and sopping wet. Once Santana enters the bathroom, she, unabashedly, eyes my body up and down, taking in every inch of bare skin that is presented to her. I stand still, in complete shock, trying to will my body to move so I can grab my towel and cover myself up. But something in Santana's gaze is making it hard for me move. Once Santana is done with assessing me? Judging me? Checking me out? She shakes her head at herself and looks me in the eye, excitement clearly emanating off of her body in waves. "Okay, before I tell you my new plan, I would just like to say: _Damn, girl!_ Your body is beyond amazing. You should consider joining Britt and I in a threesome sometime." Santana says with a sly smirk. Finally, my body regains mobility and I snatch my towel off of the bathroom counter and wrap it around my body, effectively covering myself up.

"You are disgusting." I deadpan. She just smirks at me and shrugs her shoulders, neither admitting nor denying my claim. I roll my eyes at her and remember that this is Santana I'm talking about. She has no shame. "What is your plan, Santana?" I ask her, reminding her of why she barged in here, in the first place.

"Oh! Right! The plan!" She says, just remembering what she came in here for. I roll my eyes at her again. "Okay, so this morning when I went on my daily jog, I spotted Quinn sitting by the wishing well in front of the _Barnes and Noble._ She was sitting with that guy I like to refer to as Trouty Mouth. Anyway, I decided to take my break from running right then and casually sat near them. And when I say _near_ them, I mean far enough not to be spotted but close enough to hear every word they were saying. They were talking about going to some animal shelter charity drive…or something like that. It's supposed to be held on campus starting at 2 pm today, which means that it starts in approximately…"Santana looks at the time on her watch. "5 hours."

"Great….is that it?" I ask her. She smirks at me and shakes her head. I groan. What else could she possibly have to tell me?

"So, I went to the student affairs building after my run and got a flyer for the event. It said that they were in need of volunteers…" She trails off, smiling sheepishly at me. My eye widen.

"No, no, no, no, no, _no_! Please tell me that you didn't do what I think you did!" I say to her pleadingly. She smirks at me again and I have my answer.

"Sorry, I can't tell you that I _didn't_. I signed you up to be a volunteer. But hey! I signed up, Britt and I, as well, so you won't be completely alone!" Santana reasons. I groan at her even more and walk out of the bathroom. Santana is quick on my heels and is soon trailing behind me as I enter my bedroom. "Look, Rach, this plan can work! Quinn and Trouty Mouth are also volunteering! Rachel, do you not understand how great this is, for you? You finally have a legitimate excuse to start a conversation with her." Santana says, making a very valid point. I throw off my towel and go through my undergarment drawer, pulling out a black bra and a matching pair of underwear. As I pull them on, I turn back to Santana, with a raised eyebrow. She looks at me quizzically.

"Fine. I'll do it. What time do we have to be there?" I ask, in defeat. She grins wildly at me and does a little fist pump.

This plan better work.

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_Later that day-The Event_

"Okay, so what I will need you three to do, is help handle the rodent station." The event coordinator says to Brittany, Santana, and I. It turns out that this isn't a pet charity thing _but_ it is a pet adoption drive. The school partnered with a few local animal shelters and decided that the best way to get a larger number of animals a new home, is to broadcast it to a more populated area, in a more open environment. With that being said, there over 50 stations set up that contain over 300 animals. This whole event is taking place on the school's track field. At the mention of rodents, my eyes widen and my stomach lurches violently. I see Santana and Brittany wearing similar expressions to my own. An expression that is full of pure horror.

"I'm sorry, did you say the _rodent_ station?" I ask him, trying to clarify. He nods his head and looks at me strangely.

"Yes, I did. Your station will consist of pet hamsters, guinea pigs, and mice. But don't worry, they will all be in cages. Though, while you are here, it will be your responsibility to feed them, while we wait for them to be adopted." He tells us, while waking us over to our station. Once we get there, there are about 30 cages of disgusting rodents. It feels like the moment we stepped under our station's tent, all of those beady eyes snapped towards us, watching and calculating our every move. "So here we are. We have about an hour before the event officially starts. Right now, what I want you 3 to do, is go and introduce yourselves to the other volunteers. Every two hours you will rotate to a different station, so I think its best that you start communicating with the people who are currently running your future stations. Anyway, I'm going to go grab a few coolers and snacks to put over here, as well as a few sign-in sheets. Go socialize, ladies!" The event coordinator yells at us playfully. We offer him a polite smile and walk out from under our tent.

Once we are out of the tent, Brittany and I stop walking and cross our arms across our chest, while fixing Santana with a death glare. Santana, who soon realizes that we aren't following after her, stops walking and turns around to meet our deathly stares. She crosses her arms across her chest as well, but in a defensive manner. Brittany and I continue to glare at her in silence, while Santana begins to shrink under our unwavering gazes.

"I'm sorry!" She yells at us with pleading eyes.

"_Sorry_? Santana! You've got us babysitting rodents for the next two hours. Sorry just doesn't cut it in this case." I say to her angrily.

"I'm with Rachel on this one, San. Rodents are totally gross…and as hot as I think you are and as much as I love you…don't expect any sweet lady loving for the next two nights." Brittany says to her, with her arms still crossed. Santana's jaw drops at that and a look of pure desperation crosses her features.

"But Britt Britt!" Santana whines in an uncharacteristically childish tone. Brittany looks at her pointedly and Santana quickly shuts her mouth and sags her shoulders in defeat. "Fine." She mutters petulantly.

Brittany and I, simultaneously roll our eyes at her and turn to look towards the other, nearby, stations. "I wonder which one Quinn is in…" Brittany says quietly.

Santana and I met Brittany during our freshman orientation here at NYU. We discovered that Brittany was going to be our dorm neighbor and after learning that info, we had immediately hit it off. To some people, Brittany may seem a bit odd and not that bright, but the truth is, she's a freaking genius. And when I say genius, I mean an actual genius, like she's Albert Einstein smart. It's crazy! Anyway, Santana became completely smitten with her the moment they first locked eyes. (Or so she says. Santana can be such a sap sometimes.) And a few weeks after officially meeting Britt, Santana and Brittany had become girlfriends. Now here we are, 2 years later and these two are still together and completely in love. I'm not going to lie and say that I'm not completely jealous of their relationship. Because I am. Their relationship reminds me of what I don't and probably _won't_, ever have.

"There she is! Right at that tent with the rabbits. It looks like she is working with Trouty Mouth, Asian persuasion and Aretha. We should go over there and introduce ourselves." Santana suggests, already moving towards their tent, with Brittany following closely behind. I stay frozen in my spot, too scared to go over there and face Quinn. When they reach the tent, I see Brittany immediately start to make conversation with Quinn and Mercedes. Santana, however, is looking around, presumably, for me. When she spots me and sees that I am in the same exact spot that she left me in, she shoots me a death glare and discreetly waves me over. I shake my head at her and stay put. Her eyes narrow into slits as she makes discreet threatening gestures, towards me. Instead of letting her intimidate me into going over there, I cement my feet to this spot and keep my feet firmly on the grassy ground.

Santana walks over to me and looks at me in disbelief. "Are you kidding me right now?! I signed us up for this shit so that you can get closer to Quinn. I didn't do this for me _or_ for Britt. I did it for you. Now you _are_ going to go over there and talk to her." Santana tells me lowly.

"Sorry. I can't." I tell her, walking back over to our rodent infested tent. Santana walks into the tent right after me, taking a seat on the chair behind the table that is set up at the entrance of the station.

"Fine. Don't talk to her. Keep remaining unnoticed if that's what you want." She says, crossing her arms and letting out an irritated huff. I take the seat beside her and get into a similar position, imitating her irritated huff.

"Fine!"

"Great!"

"Fucking fantastic!"

"When does this shit start again?" Santana asks me after a few silent moments.

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"I am so freaking bored and it is hot as _hell_ out here. Not one person has come to this tent and this thing started an hour ago." Santana complains.

She's right though. There are hundreds of people at this event, and not one person has come over here. Not that I blame them. Rodents are creepy and disgusting. It seems that everyone here has headed over to the puppy, kitten and rabbit tents. It looks like people have even gone over to the reptile and amphibian tent. From here, I can spot Quinn, talking to a little blonde girl. She looks like such a people person. And that smile of hers is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I continue to watch her until my eyes are in need of a blink or 2. Once I blink, my now air-dried, eyes, Quinn is gone. I roam my eyes around her designated area and see that she is no longer at her tent. I sigh to myself. Well there goes my source of entertainment for the next hour.

"Hey guys. How's everything going over here?" I hear an angelic voice say from the entrance of our tent. As I look up, I see Quinn in all her goddess-like glory. She turns her attention to me and offers me a kind smile. I try to get my lips to cooperate and form a smile but, from the looks Santana, Brittany, and Quinn are sending me, my smile must've came out as more of a grimace.

"Everything is boring as shit. We haven't had anyone come over here looking for a rodent as a pet. And you know what? I don't blame these people. Rodents are fucking disgusting." Santana says with disdain. Quinn looks thoughtful for a second and shrugs.

"I mean, during middle school, I had two hamsters and a guinea pig. They're not that bad." She says with another shrug. "Anyway, I actually came over here to adopt a guinea pig for my little cousin. He's been bugging his parents for one, for ages and I figured, why not surprise him with one for his birthday?" She says with a small laugh. Her laugh is so cute…

"Okay. Well, _Rachel_, here will be the one to write down all your information for you." Santana offers, staring at me intently. All eyes snap to me and Quinn is looking at me with that same look she fixed me with last night. The look that wondered whether she knew me or not.

"Yeah…okay. Can one of you get the adoption people over here?" I ask Brittany and Santana, trying to mask my nervousness. Santana smirks at me and nods her head, going off to find the person in question. Brittany offers me a small, encouraging smile, and sits back in her chair. "Can you read over this booklet and sign wherever your signature is needed?" I ask Quinn in a shaky voice. She looks at me curiously but shrugs her shoulders and takes the booklet. I watch as her beautiful hazel eyes scan over the page and I find myself staring at her again. She has this timeless beauty that many women envy and will continue to envy, for the rest of their lives. She's just so…

"Um...what are you staring at?" Quinn asks, successfully snapping me out of my Quinn-induced haze.

My mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water, while my eyes are widened in panic. Think of something, Rachel, THINK! "Uh…um…well…uhhhh….yeah…" I mumble out. God, I am an idiot. She looks at me as if I am the strangest person on Earth. And right now, I'd have to agree with her.

"Hey, you looking to adopt a guinea pig?" Asks the guy from the pet adoption place as he enters the tent with Santana. No clue what his name is and honestly, I could care less. He made fun of my nose the moment I met him, today. He compared my nose, to a bird beak. Who the fuck does this guy think he is? He wishes he had an amazing nose like mine. He's just jealous.

"Yes, sir. What do I have to do?" Quinn asks him. He hands her an adoption form to read over and sign.

"One of these girls will show you the animals in this tent and when you find the one you want, just sign the adoption papers I've handed you and pay the fee. Once you're done, just give the papers to one of these ladies over here and take home your new pet. Thank you for taking the time to adopt one of these beautiful animals." He tells Quinn sincerely before walking off. Once he is gone, Quinn steps into the tent and begins looking around. She smiles softly at all of the little beady-eyed creatures in their cages. I don't understand how she isn't creeped out by these things but at the same time, I guess this says what type of person she is. She obviously loves the world and all of its inhabitants. Even the small and creepy creatures.

"Hey, Rach. I think we're missing a mouse…." Santana says warily. I look at her in panic and frantically search the ground for the missing rodent. When I don't see it, I begin to panic even more. Where the hell did that mouse go? Quinn continues to look around, completely unaware of the inner turmoil and frantic search party that is occurring behind her. When neither, Brittany, Santana or I see the mouse, we look at each other with panic-filled eyes. Quinn makes a humming noise and picks up a cage with a grey guinea pig.

"I want this one." Quinn says with a warm smile aimed at the animal. I offer her a wobbly smile and nod at her. She walks over to the table to sign the adoption papers. As she continues to read and sign the paper, I feel something brush against my shin. I hold my breath and slowly look down to see the missing rodent sitting on top of my shoe. At the sight of the rodent, I release a high-pitched scream that quickly draws the attention of everyone within a 60 feet radius. I begin wiggling around and kicking my foot up in the air, trying my best to get the mouse off of my shoe. Santana and Brittany stand away from me, as I frantically move around, trying to discard myself of the mouse. I continue kicking up my foot, but to no avail, the mouse is hanging onto my shoelaces for dear life.

As I kick my foot again, this time with extra force, my shoe connects with one of the hamster cages, causing it to topple over. On the cage's way to the ground, it hits another cage, which hits another cage, which causes a domino effect of falling rodent cages. All of them hit the floor, one second after the other, causing all of the cages to open, causing all of the rodents to be released from their confines. I watch in horror as a swarm of tiny, beady-eyed, rodents run freely around the tent, eliciting terrified high-pitched screams from not just me, but Brittany and Santana as well. Once I notice that the mouse is no longer on my shoe, I hop over the table at the entrance of the tent, knocking over a few papers as I do so, and put at least a 6 foot distance between me and the rodent infested station.

Santana and Brittany soon follow after and run over to me. We all huddle together, shaking from fear at the release of the rodents, and eye the ground nervously. It is then that I realize that Quinn is still standing near the table, with her guinea pig and cage in hand.

"Ummm….I'll come back later." She says to us quickly. She places the guinea pig cage on top of the now, askew, table and jogs off towards her tent.

"I think we need another plan." Santana says after a moment of stunned silence.

"Santana?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: New Chapter! Hope you all enjoy!**

**Chapter 3:**

"Please, Rach? I promise this _new_ plan is completely foolproof. This one _will _work! I swear! Scouts honor." Santana pleads with me, her hands put up in a swearing manner. I roll my eyes at her and shake my head, dismissively. After yesterday's rodent fiasco, I am done with letting Santana talk me into any more of her crazy plans. The event coordinator from yesterday's animal adoption drive had seen the chaos that ensued our station and immediately started berating us in front of everyone at the event, including Quinn. Everyone who watched the scene unfold, whether it be the inhabitants of the tent neighboring ours, or people watching from a distance, they all seemed to find some amusement in our rodent situation. As Santana, Brittany and I left the event, the large mass of people surrounding us, collectively, whispered, chuckled, or pointed at us with little smirks plastered all over their faces. Some people even went as far as to record our entire, unfortunate ordeal. It's now on YouTube. The video is called _3 hot girls, 1 rodent station. _It's already gotten over 200,000 hits. It's freaking mortifying and it is all Santana's fault!

"No, San! I am done going along with your _stupid_ plans. I'm sure Quinn already thought I was an idiot after the poetry slam but _now?_ I'm sure she thinks I'm a total lunatic. A _clumsy_ lunatic! I am never going to have a shot with her now and it is all _your fault_!"

"_My _fault? How is it _my_ fault?! You're the one who wrote that crappy poem! It was crappy up until the point that it became comical!" Santana yells. I wince at that. I thought my poem was good! A pout makes its way onto my face at that admission and I cross my arms across my chest, defensively. Santana falters for a moment before steeling herself to finish her rant. "Also, you naturally _are_ clumsy! If I would've known that we were going to be stuck in a rodent infested tent for two hours, I would've rethought the whole, signing us up to volunteer, thing. And if I would've known that you would have kicked over 10 cages of mice, then I would have steered clear of the pet adoption drive completely. The only reason I even bothered with the poetry slam and the pet adoption drive was because I was trying to help _you_! I want Quinn to notice you, as much as you do, but it seems that the only person interested in helping you get the girl, is me. Maybe if you cooperated more and put more effort into getting your girl, all of these unfortunate things would stop happening to you… you annoying, cowardly and extremely clumsy, brat!" Santana finishes. Her arms now crossing her chest as well, eyeing me challengingly.

"Are you done now?" I ask her with a raised brow. She shrugs her shoulders.

"I guess so."

"Feel better?"

"Yup!" Santana says cheerfully. I roll my eyes at her. "Do you feel guilty now? Because if not, then I wasted a perfectly good rant on you." Santana says in a bored tone while examining her nails. Seriously? She was trying to guilt trip me?

"You are insufferable!"

"And you are a chicken shit. Now did I succeed in making you feel guilty or not?" I just look at her in disbelief. Why are she and I still best friends? _Why_? Ugh, it doesn't help that she did, indeed, make me feel a bit guilty. I know her heart is in the right place and that she's been completely selfless throughout this entire situation but I just _cannot_ go through another one of her half-assed plans.

"Yes, you made me feel a little guilty but that doesn't mean that I'm going to go through another one of your crazy plans."

"Okay, how about this? If you do this plan, then I promise you, it will be the last one. After this, you can go on trying to pursue Quinn any way you want and I will no longer try to interfere. Deal?" She asks me with her big brown puppy dog eyes. I sigh in defeat and see her lips slightly quirk up.

"Fine. This will be the last one. What do you have in mind?" I ask her in defeat. She cheers and embraces me in a much-too-tight hug and begins relaying her new plan to me. What the hell am I about to get myself into….again?

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"I can't believe they just hired me on the spot like that." I say to Santana disbelievingly. Santana's new plan involved me obtaining a job at the _Starbucks_ that Quinn frequents on a daily basis. In a way, I felt this plan was pure genius, but at the same time, I thought it was damn near impossible. I mean, how many people can say that they got hired on the spot, just by asking the manager if they were in need of help? Which is hilarious because that's literally all I had to do before the store manager handed me an apron and told me to get to work. I've only been here for 3 hours now and I'm already exhausted. I was once a barista at the, _Coffee Bean, _which is a coffee place down the street from me and Santana's apartment. I worked there for like, 2 years, and literally just quit 2 weeks ago. Luckily for me, my barista skills are still fresh and I haven't messed up an order yet.

"Britt is actually friends with the store manager here. She told him, beforehand, that you were coming by and that he should hire you. The guy is completely in love with Britt and would do anything for her, so if you're thinking he hired you just for your good looks, then you are sorely mistaken. Though, I did see him checking out your legs, the moment we walked in. So maybe that's part of the reason he hired you…." Santana trails off, eyeing the manager with a look of distaste. I roll my eyes at her and clean off the counter. It is now 3 pm and business has slowed down immensely. I got here at 12, when the lunch rush was in full swing and it was a nightmare. You can imagine that I'm extremely relieved that business is now in chill mode.

"There's Quinn." I say quietly to Santana as I see the girl of my dreams walk into the shop. She has a black and white checkered back pack, slung over her right shoulder. She's dressed in casual clothes; dark blue skinny jeans, a plain white v-neck and black and white checkered vans. Her short blonde hair is done in her normal, stylishly messy, hairdo. I've never seen a more gorgeous sight. A tan hand is waved in front of my face, snapping me out of my Quinn-induced haze. I look at Santana expectantly, causing her to roll her eyes at me.

"Um, sorry to interrupt your Quinn ogling but she's coming right this way. Act natural!" Santana says to me hurriedly. I look up and see that Quinn really is walking over here. It is then that I realize that I am currently the only behind the counter, which means, that I will have to serve Quinn…which also means that I will have to _talk to Quinn_. Oh gosh…this will not end well. Santana moves away from the counter, just as Quinn is about to approach. She sends me a discreet thumbs up and sits at the nearest table to the counter. As Quinn approaches, she eyes me curiously.

"Hey, Rachel, right?" Quinn asks me. I nod dumbly at her and stare at her in shock. She remembered my name? I know for a fact that I'm not wearing a name tag so this means she actually remembered my name. Finally! Quinn stares at me oddly before I collect my bearings and clear my throat to break the tension.

"Yeah, that's me. I'm Rachel. Rachel is _me_. I'm Rachel _Berry_. Hey…that kind of rhymed…" I say lamely, letting out a nervous chuckle. I look past Quinn, to Santana. I see her smack her palm against her forehead and shake her head in disbelief. She mouths to me "Stop being a goober" and sends me a threatening look. I roll my eyes at her and turn my attention back to Quinn. Quinn looks at me quizzically but her lips quirk up amusedly, nonetheless. Her perfectly manicured eyebrow, raises up on its own accord as she regards me curiously.

"…..right. Anyway, I came here to order a tall caramel Frappuccino…" I nod at her and quickly get to work, already making her drink. Once I am done making her drink, I hand it to her with a smile.

"Here you go. I hope you enjoy." I tell her politely. She offers me a smile.

"Thanks. Um… I'm just curious. How are you doing? You know, after the whole rodent fiasco and then getting yelled at in front of hundreds of people and stuff?" Quinn asks sincerely. I look at her with horror-filled eyes and she giggles a bit at my dramatics. I slowly begin to let the horror and worry fade away at the sound of her adorable giggle.

"I'm okay, I guess. You know, considering that I had set free about 10 mice and was practically attacked by them. Oh and then being publically humiliated by the event coordinator was definitely an added bonus." I tell her sarcastically, with a nonchalant shrug. She giggles cutely at me again.

"Yeah…that must've been the highlight of your day, huh?" She says to me jokingly. I crack a smile at her and nod my head in agreement, causing a huge smile to cross her face. "Another quick question: Since when do you work here? I mean, I come to this particular _Starbucks_ every day and I have never seen you before…" She says confusedly. I clear my throat again and briefly look at Santana who is telling me to come up with an answer. Some help, she is.

"Well I was in need of a job and one of my friends, knows the manager here so I asked for a job here and got hired on the spot." I tell her. It's mostly the truth so I don't feel bad about my answer. I look past Quinn to Santana and see her making a show of quietly clapping her hands together, giving me silent applause. I mentally pat myself on the back and turn my attention back to Quinn. Quinn shrugs her shoulders and seems to accept my answer.

"Well that was nice of your friend to hook you up with a job. Anyway, I gotta get going. I'm glad you're okay, Rachel. See you around." Quinn says to me with a small smile. Once she turns away from the counter and makes her way out of the coffee shop, I fist pump into the air and begin doing a small happy dance.

"Good job, Berry. It looks like you are now on Quinn's radar." Santana says to me she approaches the counter. I quietly cheer and expand my small happy dance into a major one. I thrash my hands around as I wiggle my hips in no particular rhythm. But unfortunately, with my luck, my wildly thrashing hands hit the glass blender, causing it to fall onto the floor and shatter into pieces. The current customers sitting inside of the café, all turn their attention to the noise of the shattering glass. I freeze in place and close my eyes in mortification.

"Hey, Berry. You're fired!" The manager says to me loudly, seemingly popping up out of nowhere. I nod my head slowly and take off the apron, carefully placing it on top of the counter. "Someone clean this glass up!" The manager yells to the employees sitting in the backroom. I make my way around the counter and hastily make an exit, Santana hot on my heels. Once we are a safe distance away from the _Starbucks, _Santana turns to me with an amused smirk.

"At least all of that didn't happen while Quinn was still there." I smack the back of her head with my palm and she quickly shuts up.

Santana does have a point though. At least, Quinn wasn't there to witness my clumsiness this time. But hey, QUINN REMEMBERED MY NAME! YESSSSSSSSS!

Now all I have to do is get her to go out with me…

…..It looks like another plan might be needed. Ugh.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

_2 Days Later_

Why do I seem to have the worst luck in the world? It turns out that someone in _Starbucks_ had recorded my little blender breaking incident, as well as my happy dance and posted the video on YouTube. The title is: _1 hot girl, 1 dance, and 1 shattered blender. _I'm pretty sure whoever recorded and posted this video, was the same person who recorded the rodent incident at the pet adoption drive. I'm pretty annoyed that this person seems to be catching my misfortunes on video and posting it for the world to see, but at the same time, I'm a bit flattered that they think I'm a hot girl. It's not every day that I get complimented on my looks. At least not as often as Santana and Brittany do. But anyway! Back to the video; it has managed to get over 500,000 hits in the two days that it has been up. It's freaking mortifying. What if someone important sees those videos, like a future employer, a Broadway cast director, or even worse…what if _Quinn_ sees it? I groan to myself at the thought and bury my face into my pillow.

It is now 9:30 a.m. and a Sunday. I'm usually up by 6 a.m. every morning, but for the past two days, I've been staying in bed later than usual. Surprisingly, Santana hasn't come into my room to drag me out of bed yet, but part of the reason she hasn't, probably has to do with the fact that Brittany slept over last night. Well…from the sounds coming out of San's room last night, they definitely weren't "sleeping"…but whatever. I wish I never found that stupid video… maybe if I didn't, I wouldn't be sulking so much. I wonder if Quinn has seen it...

"Berry! Rise and shine! Time to get up! I've let you stay in bed three extra hours, now it's time to get up, get dressed, eat some breakfast, and go outside to join the land of the living. We've got plans to attend to." Santana says as she bursts through my bedroom door, wearing nothing but a white tank top and black boy shorts. She walks over to the side of my bed and snatches the covers off of my body, then pushes me off of the bed forcefully, causing me to land on the floor with a loud thud. I slowly get up from the floor and rub my aching sides, as I shoot her a dissatisfied glare. She looks at me with a wicked smirk and amusement twinkling in her eyes. "The more time you waste glaring at me, the less time you have to do something productive with your day. Get your ass in the shower and get ready! Britt's making breakfast. We have quite a day planned for us." Santana says with the smirk still on her lips as she turns around and walks out of my room.

"Wait a second…What plans?!" I yell out to her.

"Don't question me! Get your ass ready!" Santana yells back.

I huff in irritation as I grab my towel and head into the bathroom. I quickly strip off my night clothes and hop into the shower. What the hell could Santana possibly have planned?

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"You're taking me to a movie?" I ask Santana in a puzzled voice. She and Britt look at me and nod their heads, amused smirks plastered on their faces. "_This _was the big plan you had for us today? Going to a freaking movie? Really?" I ask them in disbelief. They collectively roll their eyes at me and silently lead me into the movie theater. It's one of those old cinemas that only play classic movies. When we get inside, they go up to the ticket booth and buy our movie tickets. As they walk back over to me and hand me my ticket, I read the title of the movie that is printed on it: _Funny Girl_. I look up at Brittany and Santana with a bright smile, causing them to giggle at me as they link their arms with mine and lead me to the snack bar.

"We're awesome friends, I know." Santana says with a laugh. We order a large tub of popcorn and 3 separate bottled sprites and then make our way into the proper theater. As we get inside, the lights are already turned down and the beginning credits of the movie are rolling. We quickly find a seat in the small and not-so-crowded theater. When I am about to lower myself into my seat, the tip of my shoe bumps into the leg of the person seated next to me. As I sit down, I turn to the person to apologize, but when I catch sight of familiar hazel eyes, the apology dies down on my lips. I stare at Quinn with wide eyes as she stares at me with a look of amusement.

"Are you okay there, Rachel? You look like you've seen a ghost." Quinn whispers to me jokingly, with a sweet smile on her lips.

"N-no. I'm good. I was just surprised to see you here, is all." I whisper to her truthfully.

"Oh, well I come here every Sunday. I mean, the movies here are just a dollar and the snacks are pretty cheap and it's close to the school. Not to mention that they only play classic movies here. This is like the perfect hangout spot." Quinn explains quietly as the opening scene begins to play.

"Well, that's um….cool….I guess." I say lamely. I can't believe that she's here and is trying to make conversation with me. Oh. My. Gosh. Quinn offers me another smile before she turns her attention to the screen. I take a few short moments to admire her profile before I snap myself out of it and turn my attention towards, Santana, instead. As I turn my head to face her, Santana, is already looking in my direction. My eyes meet hers and she sends me a wink before turning her attention to the screen, as well.

She planned this! She knew Quinn was going to be here… And she must've noticed that Quinn was sitting here and purposely chosen these seats. Santana is a freaking genius….a sneaky, slightly stalker-ish, genius.

Throughout the remainder of the movie, I have found myself sneaking glances at Quinn. She just looks so intent on keeping her focus on the film playing before us. I mean, this is my all-time favorite movie, everyone who is friends with me knows that, but having Quinn this close to me is making it difficult for me to pay attention to anything else. She just looks so cute when she's on concentrating on things, her nose scrunches up, her mouth parts open slightly, and her gaze is completely unwavering. She must sense me looking at her, because she turns her head in my direction, forcing me to snap my focus back onto the screen. Her eyes bore into the side of my head for a few moments before she turns her attention back to the movie. I look at her face from the corner of my eye and notice an amused smirk on her lips.

_Shit_. I think she caught me. I casually reach my arm over to the cup holder and take out my sprite. As I uncap the bottle and put the mouth of it, to my lips, I lose grip of the bottle, causing it fall onto my lap, and release its liquid contents all over my crotch. I groan and curse quietly to myself as I pick the leaking bottle off of my lap and place it back into the cup holder. Santana and Brittany lean over their seats to see the damage done and begin chuckling as they catch sight of my soaked crotch.

"Shut up." I mutter to them quietly, causing them to giggle even more. I sneak a glance at Quinn and see her eyes snap to my crotch as well. She cracks an amused smile and offers me a few napkins. My cheeks burn red and I take the napkins, offering her a quiet 'thanks', before I get up from my seat and quickly exit the theater. I head into the women's restroom and unsuccessfully try to dry my crotch. No matter how many times I rub at it with multiple paper towels, it remains wet. (And no, I did not mean for that to sound sexual.) I look around the tiny restroom for something to dry my crotch with and then spot the hand drying machine. I look underneath all of the stall doors and find the inside of the bathroom to be empty. I, then peek outside of the restroom door and see no one coming this way. I make my way over to the hand drying machine and push my "area" as close as I can to the dryer. Once I'm close enough, I push the button to turn it on, letting the loud blowing noise fill the bathroom. (And no, that was not meant to be sexual either!)

I must be an odd sight to see. It's not every day you see a woman with her crotch pushed up towards a hand dryer. I continue to stand there in that awkward position, pressing the button of the dryer to turn it back on, every time it turns off. I don't know how long I stand here like this, but I do know that my lower back and legs are getting extremely cramped and sore. Just as I am about to move out of my awkward position, the door to the restroom opens and in walks, Quinn. I am frozen in my odd position as she enters the room and stops to eye me quizzically.

"Am I interrupting something?" She asks slowly. My eyes widen and my cheeks tinge pink in embarrassment.

"Um...uh…what? N-no. It's not what it looks like." I finish lamely, quickly standing up straight and crossing my arms over my chest.

"Right…well…your friends wanted me to come check on you. And you look fine to me, so I think I'll go… the movie just finished by the way…" She tells me slowly, looking at me with an odd expression. "See you around, Rachel." Quinn says, flashing me a polite smile before she exits the bathroom. I lean my back against the bathroom counter and bury my face into my hands.

"Why me?!" I whisper-yell to the empty restroom. I lean away from the counter and crack my back before looking down at my now-dry crotch. "Well, at least it worked." I say to myself. Before I exit the bathroom, I wash my hands, fix my hair, and hightail it out of here. As I get to the entrance of the theater, Brittany and Santana are already there waiting for me, engaged in light conversation. As they spot me, they eye me with devilish smirks.

"Sooooo…did you guys talk?" Santana asks me. I look down onto the floor, while my cheeks tint with pink at the memory of what just happened.

"Not really. I mean, she came into the bathroom, and said that you two sent her to check on me, but that was it." I tell them. They both look at me with confused expressions before a look of realization seems to cross their features. "What?" I ask them curiously.

"Rachel, Britt and I never sent Quinn to check on you."

**A/N: There's like 2 or 3 chapters left of this story lol. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I am glad that you all are enjoying the story. I never actually expected feedback, so thank you all :D. So, I would like to address my previous author's note about the story having 2 to 3 chapters left…It's only an estimate lol. The story is meant to be short though. As for some of you who would like a sequel after this is one is done…Maybe. If you guys **_**really**_** want one, I will gladly write one up for you guys ;) Anyway here is a new chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 5:**

_Same Day—Later that evening_

"I can't believe this…Can you believe this? Because I can't… What is life? Is this this real life? Have I been dreaming all day? …I still can't believe this! OH MY GOD!" I say to Santana through wide, glassy eyes. It's safe to say that I've been spouting off complete and utter nonsense since coming home from the cinema earlier. It's like I can't stop questioning everything I've ever known. _Quinn_ actually came into the restroom today, just to check up on _me, _without any prompting from anyone else to do so. Seriously, I must have been dreaming. This _has_ to be a dream. Quinn checking up on me implies that she actually cares for me or at least _thinks_ of me. This is HUGE!

"Look, Rach, as happy as I am for you, can you _please_ shut the fuck up?" Santana asks in an annoyed tone. My lips form into a pout as I look at her with a disheartened expression. She rolls her eyes at me as a scowl forms on her face. "I'm not trying to rain on your parade or anything—"at that statement, I open my mouth to prepare singing the song. Her eyes widen in panic before she puts up her hand in a silencing manner. "Me saying that, was definitely not an invitation for you to sing that damn song." She tells me sternly, causing me to shut my mouth and look like a wounded puppy. Her eyes soften at the expression on my face as she lets out a long sigh. "Like I was saying, I'm not trying to put a damper on your good mood, I just need a break from your incessant blabbering for a few minutes, that's all. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing you happy and excited but there is only so much of it I can take in one sitting." She says exasperatedly.

"If you didn't want to listen to my incessant blabbering then why the hell are you in _my room,_ in _my bed?_" I ask her, my brow raised challengingly. She huffs in in irritation but otherwise says nothing in her defense. "That's what I thought. I mean, the door is right there and your room is across the hall. If you need a break from my _incessant blabbering_, then go." I tell her. She sits up, her back leaning against my headboard while her arms are crossed over her chest. She looks at me with a scowl fixed on her face, but continues to remain quiet. I smile at her in victory, which causes her to roll her eyes again.

"Whatever." She mutters after a few silent moments. I smirk at her and place my head atop her lap. Instinctively, she begins running her fingers through my hair. "Soooooo…what are you going to do now? Quinn, clearly, has some type of interest in you. I think you should just ask her to hang out with you or something and see where it goes from there." Santana suggests quietly. I purr in contentment as she massages my scalp with her fingers. I think over her suggestion and even though it sounds like a good idea, I'm still way too shy to do something that bold.

"I don't know if I can…what if she says no?" I ask Santana quietly. I can practically _feel_ her eyes rolling at me.

"Stop being a chicken shit. She won't say no." Santana says to me confidently. I turn my head so that I'm looking up at her face.

"How are you so sure that she won't say no?" I ask her curiously.

"Because I know everything so stop questioning me." It is now my turn to roll my eyes at her. "If you're truly worried about her saying no, then I think I have a plan that will get you a guaranteed yes." She says with a mischievous smirk. _Great_, another freaking plan. As much as I want to say no… I can't. As humiliating as all of these plans seem to turn out for me, they still managed to get Quinn to notice me _and _remember my name.

"What is your great plan now, Almighty one?" I ask in a sarcastic tone. She eyes me with a smirk and begins relaying her plan to me. It's the simplest one yet….yet it seems so difficult and extra terrifying… I hope I will be able to go through with it…

Oh who am I fucking kidding?! I know I won't go through with it, not without getting an extra push from Santana, that is.

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_Next Day—Outdoor Student Lounge_

"There she is. Are you ready to do this, Rachel?" Santana asks me. I eye Quinn from my spot in the student lounge and begin internally freaking out. I can't do this! I don't know why I ever agree to these stupid plans anyway, it's not like I ever want to go through with them. I look to Santana with a shaky yet apologetic smile, as I begin to slowly distance myself from her. Santana catches on to what I'm trying to do and grabs my forearm roughly, pulling me to stand closer to her. "We are _not_ doing this again, Rach! You are going to get your shit together, approach her, and then ask her to hang out. Do you understand?!" Santana whisper yells at me. A pout makes its way onto my face as a whine escapes my throat. "Throughout all of the blabbering you did yesterday, you mentioned that Quinn checking up on you, must mean that she thinks of you. I don't know about you, but I think that's a good thing. Just be your normal dorky self, go over there and ask to join her. When you get over there, just make some small talk and then casually ask her to hang out. It's as simple as that." Santana says quietly and calmly to me.

I take a deep breath to try to calm my erratic nerves. Right now, my heart feels like it's in my throat and my stomach feels like it's in my uterus, and just every organ in my body feels like it's in a place that it shouldn't be. Maybe this is what death by nervousness feels like? Should I alert Santana to send me to the hospital? As I am about to open my mouth to voice this concern to Santana, she grabs me by the forearm again, this time in a much gentler grip, and leads me over to Quinn's table. When we are about 3 feet away from her table, I quickly sober up and try to turn around so I can make a break for it. But of course, with Santana being the one with her grip on my arm, I end up being rooted in place. As we are about to approach the table, I try once again, to make a break for it, but this time, instead of Santana keeping me rooted in place, she does the one thing I had hoped for her _not_ to do.

One moment I am standing upright, next to Santana, next thing I know I am sitting in a shocked, Quinn's, lap. Of course, she just _had_ to literally _push me. _But this is Santana…so _really_, what did I expect? I look at Quinn in bewilderment and offer her a sheepish smile. Her lips slowly quirk up once the shock wears off; she even goes as far as giggling at me. My cheeks flush in embarrassment as I scramble to get off of her lap. In my haste to relocate to a nearby seat, I end up tipping over her open peach Snapple that was resting on the tabletop. I watch in horror as it falls onto her chest and releases its liquid contents on top of her t-shirt. My eyes widen as I see the once dry, light gray t-shirt, become 3 shades darker from the liquid soaking through it.

"I am _so sorry_, Quinn!" I exclaim in embarrassment. She offers me a small, gentle smile as she catches sight of my flushed cheeks and wide eyes.

"It's okay. I have witnessed your clumsiness on more than one occasion already. It's fine. Plus I have a tank top on under this, so I'll just head to the bathroom really quickly and take this shirt off. Were you planning to join me?" She asks as she gets up. I look at her with wide eyes and nod dumbly at her. She smiles at me again and mutters a quick "be right back" before she disappears into the nearby restroom. I take a seat across from where she was originally sitting and take a few deep breaths. My heart is pounding wildly in my chest as I take a moment to look around the student lounge. No one seems to be looking over here, except for Santana, who is seated a table away. I fix her with a heated glare that she quickly responds to with an amused grin and a snort. I roll my eyes at her, then discreetly flip her the bird. She puts her hand over her heart and bats her eyelashes at me in a flirtatious way.

"Aww is that for me?" She asks in a poorly imitated southern belle accent.

"I hate you." I say to her.

"You freaking love me. And you will thank me soon enough. Now don't mess this up. This is your chance, Rach. You got this!" Santana says encouragingly. I roll my eyes at her again and spot Quinn coming back this way from the corner of my eye. I quickly snap my eyes forward and offer her a wobbly smile as she sits down across from me.

"I am really sorry about that." I tell her again as she settles into her seat. She waves off my apology and offers me a kind smile.

"I told you, it's okay. Your clumsiness is just out of your control and if I'm being honest, it's actually quite endearing." Quinn says with a low giggle. My eyes widen at the confession. She thinks my clumsiness is endearing? Oh. My. God.

"Oh…" I say lamely, a completely befuddles expression on my face. She studies my face for a moment with a look of amusement.

"Are you always so shy and quiet?" She asks after a moment. I shake my head 'no' but otherwise, don't offer a verbal answer. "Riiiiight. Sooo…how's your crotch? Is it feeling sticky by any chance or is it all good now?" Quinn asks with a straight face. My entire face flushes crimson and I take that moment to bury my face in my hands. I hear her let out an amused giggle, then feel something soft and delicate brush against my forearm. I raise my head from my hands and notice her fingers gently touching me. "I'm sorry. That was a bad joke." My eyes snap up to her face as she says that. A sincere smile is pulled across her lips.

"Oh..." I say again, just as lamely as before. Why can't I just will my mouth to say something that isn't lame?! She studies me curiously, her head slightly tilted sideways, like she's trying to figure me out.

"For someone who says they aren't always shy and quiet, you seem to be exactly that." She says to me, a sincere smile still on her face. I offer her a small smile but otherwise, remain silent. This plan is going terribly wrong. Quinn is actually making the effort to start a conversation with me and here I am, being a total idiot. She's probably going to think I'm mute after this.

"Hey, Rachel, hey Quinn. Is it okay if I join you guys?" Santana asks, now standing at the side of our table. Quinn shrugs her shoulders and offers Santana a small smile.

"Yeah, be our guest." Quinn says to her.

"Thanks. So what are you two lovely people talking about?" Santana asks coyly, kicking my shin underneath the table and offering me a disapproving look. I'm just going to go out on a limb here and assume she heard our conversation, or lack of.

"Oh, well we were just engaging in a stimulated one-way conversation, isn't that right, Rachel?" Quinn says with a hint of amusement in her tone. I slowly nod my head and remain quiet. "See?" Quinn says to Santana with an amused smile. Santana roughly punches my thigh underneath the table, causing me to yelp out in pain. I turn to her and shoot her a glare as she offers me a sugary sweet smile. Quinn looks at us in confusion.

"She just hit her thigh against the table. You know this one, always so clumsy." Santana says with a forced chuckle, turning her eyes to me. She is looking at me with a threatening look. We hear a ping sound off from across the table. Quinn takes her phone off of the tabletop and reads what I am assuming is a text message. After her eyes are finished scanning her phone screen and she types out a reply, she looks up at Santana and I, with an apologetic smile.

"That was my friend, Mercedes. I'm supposed to meet her in a few minutes. I guess it was good talking to you guys. Um, I'll see you around." Quinn says offering us both a smile as she gets up from the table. Before she can begin walking away, Santana stops her with a question.

"Hey, Quinn. Britt, Rachel and I are going to Time Square tomorrow, would you like to come with?" Santana asks her. I hold my breath as I wait for her answer. She seems to think it over for a second before she finally nods.

"Yeah, that sounds cool. What will we be doing there?" Quinn asks her.

"You know, just walking around. Maybe we'll go out to eat and then see a movie or something."

"Yeah, okay. What time?"

"5 pm, good for you?"

"Yup! I'll see you there." Quinn says, eyeing me. I don't know if I imagined this, but I think she just winked at me... "I have to go you guys. See you tomorrow." She says offering us, mainly me, a sweet smile, before walking off.

"She winked at you." Santana says before I even have time to verbally question it. My jaw drops as I look towards Quinn's retreating form. "Oh, by the way, you're fucking welcome!" Santana exclaims as she rises up from her seat at the table. I pout at her and follow suit.

"I'm sorry! She just makes me really nervous up until the point that I lose the ability to speak." I mutter quietly. Santana hooks her arms through mine and leads me out of the student lounge.

"I know. But tomorrow, you're not allowed to act like a total idiot because I'm not going to help you this time. Tomorrow night, you are going to woo the hell out of Quinn, without my help. Now let's go home and go over your game plan." Santana says to me.

I gulp nervously at the thought. I guess Santana is right. Time to tighten up and woo Quinn.

Whatever happens tomorrow just may be the death of me.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: New chapter! Hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 6**

_Next Day—Times Square_

"Stop shaking."

"Why don't _you_ stop shaking?"

"Maybe because I'm not actually shaking."

"Well who asked you anyway?!"

"You just did!"

"Guys!" Brittany exclaims at me and Santana, effectively stopping our childish banter. Santana and I cross our arms over our chests and stick our tongues out at each other in a petulant manner. Brittany rolls her eyes at us and links her arm through Santana's. "I swear dealing with you two is like dealing with 4, two year old brats. I think you two need to chill out. Quinn just texted me, she should be here any minute." Brittany informs us as she reads off of her phone screen. We are currently waiting for Quinn, in front of the _McDonald's_, because seriously, _McDonald's, _is like the easiest place to spot.

"You better talk to her this time, midget." Santana says to me threateningly. I huff at her and stick my nose up in the air defiantly, causing her to shoot me with a laser-like glare. Brittany rolls her eyes at us and decides to keep an eye out for Quinn.

"Don't tell me what to do, Santana!" I say to her petulantly. She tries to unlink her arm from Brittany's, to attack me, but Brittany keeps her in place, holding onto her bicep firmly. Since she can't free herself from Brittany's grasp, she settles for sending me her most menacing look yet. I visibly shrink under her menacing gaze and avert my eyes from her face, causing her to smirk in triumph.

"Quinn's coming!" Brittany says to us in a hushed whisper.

"Wanky." Santana says under her breath. Brittany and I collectively roll our eyes at the girl just as Quinn approaches.

"Hey guys." Quinn says to us with a smile as she approaches us. Brittany and Santana easily return the smile and greeting as I stay silent and offer Quinn a wobbly, nerve-ridden smile. Santana glares at me and roughly pinches the skin of my forearm. I wince at the burning pain of my forearm but manage to sober up and offer Quinn a greeting in return. Quinn looks at me in amusement as Santana stares at me in disbelief.

"Okay so, Britt and I are going to get something to eat in here…" Santana gestures towards the _McDonald's_, "…do you guys want anything?" She asks. She knows that I'm a vegetarian and would never eat any of that foul, so-called "food" so I quickly shake my head in a negative, while Quinn seems to share my sentiment and shakes her head as well. "Okay, well, hold tight, we'll be right back." She says to us, shooting me with a meaningful look. As they disappear into the fast food restaurant, I clear my throat and take a deep breath.

Time to stop being a chicken shit and woo the hell out of Quinn.

"How was your day?" I ask Quinn. I think it's best to start off with an easy question and keep this conversation in safe territory. At least that's what Brittany suggested I should do when we went over my game plan last night.

"It was okay, just completely uneventful. I mainly just hung out in the student lounge, half-hoping to witness the clumsiness of a certain brunette. But there was no such luck today." Quinn says to me with an amused smirk. Is she flirting with me? I think she is. My eyes widen in shock, as my mouth open and closes like a fish out of water. I'm sure I have this look on my face whenever I'm in the presence of Quinn. It's definitely not a flattering look on me, but from the look Quinn is giving me, she doesn't seem to mind. She continues to smirk at me while she brings her hand up to my chin, successfully closing my mouth. "Careful, you wouldn't want any bugs to fly in there." She says to me with a playful wink. My mouth goes dry at the physical contact. "There you go being all quiet and shy again." She says to me good-naturedly.

"I'm sorry. You're just really pretty." I blurt out. I groan to myself at my lameness. Damn it, now she's probably going to think I'm some weird creeper or something. I close my eyes to avoid looking in her direction. This plan is definitely not going to work out in my favor.

"I think you're really pretty too." Quinn says softly. My eyes snap open and I turn to gape at her. The look on her face is completely genuine. Oh. My. Gosh. Quinn not only thinks I'm pretty but she thinks that I'm _really pretty_!

"T-thanks." I stutter out. She giggles quietly at me and looks at me through her long lashes. I gulp at the obvious display of flirtation and give myself a mental push to put on a brave face and stay cool. A silence descends upon us for a few fleeting moments, that is, before says something that causes me to internally freak out.

"I think your friends may have ditched us." I look at her with wide eyes and peak inside of the _McDonald's_, just to see that there is no sign of Brittany and Santana. I look around our surroundings outside and don't see them anywhere. Ugh…I'm going to kill that sly son-of-bi- "Do you want to walk around?" Quinn asks me shyly. I snap my eyes up to her face and see that she's sporting an innocent, lopsided smile. I let out a sigh and nod at her. She offers her arm to me and I shyly link my arm through hers.

I guess I can plot my revenge against Santana later.

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"So how long have you and Santana known each other?" Quinn asks me as we walk into Dave &amp; Buster's. We've currently been walking around for the past hour and a half and have been engaging in minor small talk. And when I say small talk, I meansimple talk. Our conversation topics have ranged from the weather to the outrageous outfits of some random passerby's to school to our majors to why gay dogs hump their owner's legs. I'm not going to lie, I'm actually really enjoying myself, despite all of the nerves bubbling over in my gut. As we approached Dave &amp; Buster's, we decided to just order food from here and rest our legs for a bit, maybe even play a few games if we're up for it. You know it's funny, as long as we've been walking, not once have we passed either Santana or Brittany, since their disappearing act. Despite how much fun I'm having with Quinn, I still plan on kicking their asses for leaving me alone with the one person who can give me cardiac rest. I shake myself out of my thoughts and turn towards Quinn to answer her question.

"Since kindergarten. A boy in our class was bullying me so she beat him up and asked me if I wanted to be her best friend. Since then, we've been inseparable." I tell her. She hums in acknowledgment as we seat ourselves at a nearby table.

"Have you guys ever dated?" She then asks, curiosity swimming in her hazel eyes. I force out an awkward chuckle and avoid her gaze as I answer.

"Yeah….but it was years ago. It wasn't anything serious, just two best friends trying to see if there was anything _more_ than platonic feelings between us." I answer simply.

"And was there?" Quinn prods. I look at her and offer her a shrug and a small smile.

"No, not really. We dated for a few months but then ended it because it felt weird. We only kissed once throughout our entire relationship and that kiss didn't occur until the day of our break up. There was a lot of gagging being done that day…" I say in a reminiscent tone as I recall the memory. Being with Santana was like being with a sister; it's just wrong and should never happen. Quinn giggles at my facial expression and smiles.

"So there is absolutely no romantic feelings between you two whatsoever?" She asks to clarify. I look at her with a quizzical expression and nod in confirmation. Why is she asking me this? "Well I guess that's good. So just curious…are you single?" Quinn asks me. Wait a second…what? Is she asking me this because she has interest in me or because this is a question that girls ask each other all the time? I really hope it's the first option. Ugh, I'm so confused!

"Yes….are you?" I ask her. I don't know if I'm imagining things but it looks like she let out a breath of relief… what is going on here?

"Yup!" She says cheerily, just as a waiter comes up to our table. He takes our drink orders, returns with them shortly after, and then asks for our food orders. Once he has written down our orders, he walks away and attends to another table.

"So...um…uh….do you…um…" Why can't I ever just say what it is that I want to say? God, I feel like an idiot. A bumbling, illiterate idiot. I bury my face in my hands and take a deep, calming breath. After a few moments, I raise my head from my hands and look straight at Quinn with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, Quinn." I say to her quietly. She looks at me with a look of confusion and concern.

"For what?"

"For being the worst person to have a conversation with. I'm sorry that I've been so mute and tongue tied. I'm just really nervous." I admit to her. She looks at me with a kind smile and shakes her head amusedly.

"Rachel, its fine. You're definitely not the worst person to have a conversation with, and believe it or not, I'm actually having a lot of fun with you. It's okay if you're nervous because I am too." She tells me truthfully. I look at her in shock. Why would she be nervous?

"Why are _you_ nervous?" I ask her. I hope she isn't nervous because she thinks I'm creepy and the thought of being left alone with me has unsettled her.

"Because you're cute and it's not every day that I get left alone with someone as cute as you." She says genuinely and…bashfully? What?

"You think I'm cute?"

"Obviously."

"Obviously?!" I squeak out. She lets out a breathy laugh and offers me a genuine smile.

"Obviously." She states again. "You're cute, sweet and endearingly clumsy. Why wouldn't I want to spend time with you?" She asks rhetorically, a sweet and honest smile gracing her lips. My heart begins to pound wildly in my chest at that admission. Is this a dream? Is Quinn actually saying these sweet things to me? If only Santana were here to witness this! I look at Quinn with a goofy grin spread across my face as I decide to stretch my legs out from underneath the table. As I do so, a waiter passing by with a tray of drinks, trips over my outstretched legs, causing the drinks on the tray to go completely airborne. The glasses fall to the floor and the drinks splash onto a couple sitting at a nearby table. I quickly straighten up and place my legs back under the table. The waiter gets up from the floor and picks up the now, empty glasses, and places them back on the tray. As he is walking back towards the kitchen, he shoots me a glare and then faces forward, to continue his shameful trek. My cheeks burn in embarrassment at what just occurred.

"Endearingly clumsy, eh?" I say to Quinn with sarcasm dripping from my tone. She's doing her best to hide her smile behind her hands, but is failing miserably. A loud, boisterous laugh escapes her mouth causing her pale skin to turn red with laughter. I mockingly pout at her and cross my arms in a childish manner. Her laugh eventually dies down into a quiet giggle.

"I'm sorry...but that was hilarious." She says, still giggling. I roll my eyes at her playfully as she continues to giggle. Once her giggles have died down completely, she looks at me with an amused grin on her lips. "Okay, I'm done now. I promise." She says. I playfully huff at her and feign annoyance. Her amused grin turns into a smirk as she studies me. "Like I said before that incident happened, you are _endearingly _clumsy. I don't take that back." I breathe a sigh of relief at that, eliciting a wide smile from the hazel-eyed beauty. Our waiter returns a moment later, placing a salad in front of me and a cheeseburger in front of Quinn. As soon as he is out of sight, we dig in.

"How's your salad?" Quinn asks after she gets halfway through her burger. As I chew on my leafy greens, I answer her with a hum of approval. She smiles at me before devouring the rest of her burger. As we finish our meals and pay for our food, we head into the arcade with our power cards. "So what would you like to play first?" Quinn asks as we step into the lit up arcade. I scan the area for something fun to play and then notice the deserted air hockey table. I look to Quinn.

"Air hockey?"

"Let's go." She says with a smile.

We head to the table and swipe our cards. Once we have the puck and hockey mallets on the table, we immediately begin playing. Quinn serves first and manages to swipe the puck into my goal on her first try. I glare playfully at her as she raises her eyebrow challengingly at me. I put my game face on and take the puck out of the pocket. I swipe my mallet against the puck and send it a few centimeters away from the goal. Quinn smirks at me as she easily swipes her mallet against the puck and once again, in one try, she gets the puck into the goal.

"You're cheating!"

"I'm not! You just suck at this." Quinn says in a teasing manner.

Well, it's on now.

I take the puck out of the pocket and swiftly swipe my mallet against it, successfully landing it into Quinn's goal. Quinn looks up at me with an impressed look on her face. As she places the puck back on the table, she hits the puck forcefully and I successfully block it from entering my goal. I hit the puck hard, so hard, that I make it sail through the air. Unfortunately, it continues sailing until it hits the back of a random guy's head. The guy brings his hand to rub the back of his head and before he can turn around to spot us, Quinn and I abandon the game altogether and decide to search for a new game to play.

"How about we play a shooting game?" Quinn suggests, pointing to a zombie killer game. I shrug my shoulders and she gently takes me by the wrist to lead the way. We swipe our cards through the machine and pick up our fake guns to begin playing. About a minute into the game, a zombie jumps out of nowhere and bites my head off. I sigh in disappointment as I set my gun back into its holder. Quinn is still in the game, successfully dodging and killing the zombies coming her way. If we were ever in a real zombie apocalypse, I would definitely want Quinn to protect me. One: She looks sexy as hell holding a gun and two: after witnessing her flawless strategy in this game, I'm sure she would be one of the few to actually survive a zombie apocalypse.

As the game comes to an end, Quinn comes out victorious, never having been bitten or killed by a zombie. I applaud her for her successful efforts and she bows, wearing a playful cocky smirk.

"I'm awesome, I know." We laugh in unison and move onto the next game.

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After about 20 games later, Santana sends me a text, telling Quinn and I to meet her and Britt at the _McDonald's _that we had met originally started at. I look at the time on my phone and see that it's now past 10. Where the hell did all of the time go? I show Quinn the text and we quickly make our way out of the building and back onto the now, overly crowded, sidewalk. Quinn and I walk arm in arm, in comfortable silence. Our silence is filled in by the incessant chattering, honking horns and car engines of our surroundings. Surprisingly, all of the noise doesn't seem to affect our blissful state. As we continue walking, we see the _McDonald's _come into view. As we approach the fast food restaurant, we spot Santana and Brittany already standing outside. Once they spot me and Quinn, they sport matching grins. I narrow my eyes at them, which only causes their grins to widen.

"Hey guys! Sorry about earlier. We didn't ditch you on purpose, I swear." Santana says unconvincingly, the mischievous smirk on her lips making it obvious that she, indeed, ditched us on purpose. Brittany just nods her head in agreement, mirroring Santana's mischievous smirk. Could these two be any more obvious?

"Well, either way, Rachel and I managed to have a great time." Quinn says to them, aiming a huge and genuine smile in my direction. I easily return the smile, completely missing the way Santana and Brittany fawn over us.

"It's getting late, how about we hail a cab back to our apartments? We all live in the same complex anyway." Santana suggests to us. We all nod our heads in agreement. Santana successfully hails a cab on her first try and we all pile into the cab together. Brittany and Santana make small talk with the cab driver, while Quinn and I exchange shy glances. As we come to a stop in front of our building, Santana throws a few dollars to the driver and we all make our way out. Santana and Brittany entwine their hands together and begin walking ahead of Quinn and I. Quinn and I share a brief meaningful look as she offers her arm to me. I bashfully smile to her and link my arm through hers. As we enter the apartment building, we begin walking up the staircase, Brittany and Santana now a few steps ahead of us.

"Well, this is my stop." Quinn says as we reach the second floor. "I really did have fun tonight. This was, by far, the best non-date ever." She says with a disarming smile.

"Non-date?" I ask with a snort.

"I mean, to everyone else, this would be considered a date. But since neither of us asked the other one out, it can't really be considered an actual date. So, I think we should have a do-over." She suggests to me with a shy smile. A do-over? Is she suggesting what I think she's suggesting? "I was wondering if you'd like to go on an actual, legitimate, date with me. This weekend, maybe? What do you say?" Quinn asks me, putting on a brave face to cover her obvious nerves. I stay silent and frozen for a few moments before I manage to find my voice again.

"Y-yeah. I mean, yes. Yes, I would like to go on a date….with you." I say lamely. A bright smile forms on her face at my answer.

"Really?" She asks excitedly. I nod my head in confirmation. She fist pumps into the air playful, causing me to snort in laughter. What a dork. "Awesome! Well, I think I better head to my place now. I have a class at 7 a.m." She says with a cute pout, I smile softly at her and nod in understanding. "Goodnight, Rachel. I hope to see you tomorrow." And with that, she kisses me on the cheek, sending an electric current through my body. She flashes me one last smile before she opens the door leading to her floor and disappears out of sight.

I dreamily walk up to the 4th floor where my apartment is located and push open the slightly ajar front door. As I enter the apartment, I lock the door behind me and see Santana sitting on our living room couch, looking at me with an expectant smile.

"Soooooooo? How'd it go?!" She asks excitedly. I should be mad at her for ditching me…but I can't find it in myself to be angry at her anymore. Because of her, I got to spend time alone with my dream girl. Because of her, I now have a date with Quinn.

"It was amazing. We talked, she told me she thought I was cute. She kissed me on the cheek and then she asked me out on a date…" I state in a dreamy tone. Santana's eyes bug out of her head as a huge grin takes over her face. She engulfs me in a tight hug and places a kiss on my forehead.

"I'm proud of you, midge." She says with genuine pride. "Oh and by the way, you're fucking welcome." And with that, she smirks at me and then saunters off into her bedroom.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I think this should be the final chapter you guys! Thank you to all who have been reading and reviewing this story. I am very grateful to have readers like you :D Anyway here is the last chapter! Hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 7**

_Friday—Date Night_

"You ready for this, midge?"

"I was born ready."

"No, _really_…are you actually ready for this?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"….no."

"That's what I thought." Santana says with a light laugh. I sigh in embarrassment as Santana fixes me with a sweet, supportive smile. "Don't worry midge, tonight will go perfectly."

"How are you so sure?" I ask her skeptically. She rolls her eyes at me and lays down on my bed. I lay myself down as well, and together we stare at up my plain ceiling in silence. Santana turns on her side and props her arm up on her elbow, resting her cheek on her open palm.

"Because, Quinn, clearly liked you enough to ask you on this date. She likes you for you. She looks past your terrible fashion choices, your clumsiness and your complete dorkiness and sees someone who is worth getting to know. No matter what you guys do tonight, and no matter how many accidents you end up causing, Quinn will have a good time because she's with _you_."

A big smile makes its way onto my face. "Britt really _has_ turned you into a sap." I say in amusement. Santana rolls her eyes at me and punches me hard in the thigh, causing me to wince in pain. "Whipped girls are so touchy." I say to her with a smirk. She raises her fist to punch my thigh again but I scramble off of the bed before her fist can connect with its target. I decide that it'd be safer to tease her at a distance, so I take a seat at my vanity, while she remains lying on the bed.

"You make it so hard for me to be nice to you." She says with a tired sigh. I snort in laughter.

"Hate to break it to you, San, but you're always nice to me. You may have a funny way of showing it sometimes, but you've never been mean to me." I tell her with a smirk. She releases another tired sigh and rolls her eyes at me.

"Shouldn't you start getting ready? Its 2:30 and you're supposed to meet Quinn at 4. So how about you get your ass in the shower, while I pick out something for you to wear." I look at the clock and see that it is, indeed, 2:30. I jump up from my vanity chair and grab my towel from the hook hanging on the back of my door. Before I reach the bathroom door, I turn back to Santana with a teasing smirk on my face.

"You know you're being nice to me right now…right?" I tell her. She rolls her eyes at me again and lifts herself off of the bed. I'm surprised her eyes haven't gotten stuck in the back of her head with all of the rolling that they do.

"If you're not in that bathroom by the time I count to 5, I am going to kick your bony ass." She tells me threateningly. Instead of scurrying off into the bathroom at her threat, I stand in front of the door with my arms crossed defiantly. She raises her eyebrow in a challenging manner and begins counting. "One."

"I'm not scared of you."

"Two."

"Still not scared."

"Three."

"You're like a cute puppy." Her eyes narrow at my teasing.

"Four." She says slowly. I stand completely unmoving. "If I get to 5 and you are not in that bathroom, I'll make sure to show Quinn all of our _nude_ bath time pics from kindergarten." Santana says threateningly. My eyes widen in horror and a self-satisfied smirk graces her lips. The moment her lips open to say _5_, I dash into the bathroom at lightning speed, undressing myself in less than 5 seconds. Soon after, I hop into the shower and begin lathering myself up. Those pictures have never been seen by anyone besides our parents…not even Brittany has seen them. Why we even keep them in the apartment, I will never understand…

I decide to turn my brain off for the remainder of my shower and focus on getting myself squeaky clean. Tonight I will be spending time alone with my dream girl. So, if I accidentally ruin the night by landing either Quinn or myself into the hospital, at least I'd smell good while doing it.

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"Stop squirming so much!" Santana chastises. She's currently putting on the final touches of my make-up. Once she's all done, she studies my face for a few moments before a satisfied smile graces her lips. "Okay, you're ready. And you look good." Santana says sincerely. She picked out a plain black v-neck shirt, dark blue skinny jeans, that make my ass look fantastic, and a pair of black converse. The attire may seem plain and ordinary to most people, but for me, it's equivalent to wearing a designer dress. My attire has always consisted of argyle sweaters, short skirts, and loafers, so what I'm dressed in now, would definitely be a shock to Quinn's system. "It's 3:55. I think you better go down to the lobby now. Quinn is probably already waiting for you."

"So I guess this is it."

"I guess it is. Now go and have fun with your girl." Santana says with a wink.

"She's not my girl, yet."

"Key word: yet. I'm 100% sure that she _will be_ after tonight. Now go, don't make her wait!" Santana says, pushing me towards the front door. She opens the door and roughly pushes me through the doorway and then slams the door shut before I even get the chance to turn around. Well, at least she had the decency to make sure that I had my purse hanging from my shoulder before she kicked me out. I take out my phone out of my pocket and see that it's already 4. I curse quietly to myself and jump on the nearest elevator. Once I reach the first floor and enter the lobby, I see Quinn, looking cute as ever, already waiting for me by the double doors. She's wearing a yellow and white, short sleeved, plaid button down shirt, as well as black skinny jeans and all black vans. It's a look that suits her. As I grow nearer to her, she seems to sense my presence and lifts her head in my direction. The moment she spots me, she gives my outfit a onceover and offers me a breathtaking smile.

"You look great. I don't think I've ever seen you in jeans before…I didn't even know you owned a pair of jeans." Quinn says in amusement, a teasing smile on her lips. I roll my eyes playfully at her and offer her a wide grin of my own.

"Well, yeah. Santana bought me like 5 pairs of jeans before the semester started, saying something about reducing the amount of eye sores my original wardrobe had given her." I tell her. She giggles at that explanation and shakes her head in amusement.

"You two are the funniest pair of friends I have ever met, I swear. So anyway, are you ready to let this date begin?" I take a deep breath and offer my best smile. I nod at her in confirmation and she widely grins at me. "Great! Let's go then!" She takes my hand in hers and drags me through the double doors. Once we are out on the busy sidewalk, Quinn looks around for something, whatever it is, she seems to spot it. She begins pulling me in the direction of a silver Honda parked along the curb. As she opens the backdoor for me, I spot who Santana refers to as Trouty Mouth, sitting the driver's seat. As Quinn slides in beside me and closes the door, Trouty Mouth turns around in his seat and offers us a kind smile.

"Rachel, this is my cousin, Sam, Sam this Rachel." Quinn says, introducing me to the cute guy with abnormally large lips.

"Nice to meet you, Sam." I tell him kindly, he grins at me.

"Nice to _finally_ meet you too, Rachel. Quinn hasn't been able to shut up about you in years. It's like—

Sam never gets the chance to finish his sentence because Quinn swiftly punches him in the arm and shoots him a glare that can rival Santana's. He snaps his mouth shut and quickly turns forward in the driver's seat, quickly starting up the car. Once the car is on, he puts it in drive and begins the journey to our unknown destination. Or better yet, _my_ unknown destination. Quinn never did tell me where we were going. Sam switches on the radio to reveal an annoying Drake song. I tune out the song and get lost in my mindless thoughts for a moment…until it registers to me what Sam said.

"_Quinn hasn't been able to shut up about you in years."_

My eyes widen in shock as I release a quiet gasp. Quinn has liked me for years?! How many years?! I turn my head to the side and catch Quinn looking out of the car window, her attention focused on the random outdoor sights. I shake my head to myself and try to wrap my head around this information. Is it possible that Quinn actually _did_ notice me in high school? Does this mean that I've always been on Quinn's radar without even realizing it? What the hell is going on? What does this mean?

"So, Rachel, you're friends with Brittany and Santana right?" Sam says from his seat at the front, his attention focused on the road.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I witnessed Brittany dancing yesterday in the auditorium and she was amazing. And then I heard Santana singing for the first time and was absolutely blown away by her voice. They were auditioning together for the Spring Showcase and they just took everyone by surprise with their talent. Would you mind telling them that Trouty Mouth thinks they're awesome?" Sam says with a light chuckle, Quinn chuckling along with him. I offer him an amused smile and shake my head with a laugh.

"How'd you know that was your nickname for her?"

"Santana and I have had classes together since our first year here. She never made it a secret that she thought I had big froggy lips. Neither has Brittany. They've been calling me Trouty Mouth for the last two years and I've learned to embrace the nickname. Santana is quite an interesting character…" Sam trails off with a laugh. I nod my head in agreement. Truer words have never been spoken.

"Yeah, she is, but she's my best friend so I've gotten used to her personality." I tell him with a fond smile. I wonder what Santana is doing right now…I bet she invited Brittany over to the apartment and they're either having wild sex all over the house or discussing what Quinn and I could possibly be doing. I _still_ have no clue what Quinn and I are doing so I decide to try my luck and ask. "Hey, Quinn, where are we going?" I ask her. She turns her attention away from the window and looks at me with a small, secretive smile.

"Not telling."

"C'mon! Can I at least get a hint?" I ask her hopefully. She seems to think it over for a minute and nods her head.

"Somewhere fun." Is all she says. I huff in mock frustration and cross my arms over my chest. She smiles adoringly at me and reaches her hand over to my crossed arms. She reaches for my hand and I uncross my arms to let her take it. Once my hand is in her grasp, she entwines our fingers together and turns her attention back to her window, a soft smile now gracing her lips. I mirror her smile and look out my own window.

We drive in silence, the only sounds coming from the radio, for the remainder of the trip. Sam eventually comes to a stop and as I look out the window, I notice a beach, a boardwalk, and a few theme park rides. It takes me a moment to realize that we're at _Coney Island_. I turn to Quinn who is already looking at me, trying to gauge my reaction. I offer her a wide grin and she giggles at me, taking that as a good sign.

"I hope you don't mind. Most people take their first dates to a movie or a restaurant but I wanted our first date to be more memorable. So I thought to myself: Why not take, Rachel, to _Coney Island? _Maybe she'd enjoy herself. So….yeah." Quinn says to me shyly. I smile at her softly and lean over the seat to place a quick kiss on her cheek. Her cheeks turn pink at the contact and my smile widens.

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go!" I tell her excitedly, opening the car door and jumping out as Quinn scrambles to chase after me.

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Quinn and I have now been here at the park for the past three hours and we've managed to go on five of the rides, at least two times each. It's been a blast so far, and I can't believe that three hours has already passed. Right now, we're sitting down at one of the set-up picnic tables, eating our ice cream cones, just enjoying each other's company and doing a bit of people watching.

"That lady's hair is all sorts of jacked up, it looks like a fiery bird's nest." I say to Quinn quietly, referring to a woman who has bright orange hair that looks like it hasn't seen a comb in years.

"Why is that woman wearing 6 inch stilettos to an amusement park?" Quinn says referring to a woman who is wearing a tight black dress and 6 inch heels. That's got to be uncomfortable.

"We're bad people." I say with a laugh. She laughs too and nods her head in agreement. We finish up our ice cream cones, get up from our table and begin walking along the boardwalk. As we're walking, our hands brush against each other's, causing Quinn to shyly slip her hand in mine, just like in the car. I entwine our fingers and we side-eye each other with shy, happy grins on our faces. We continue walking down the boardwalk, hand-in-hand, in a comfortable silence.

"Having fun so far?" Quinn asks shyly after a few moments of silence. I look at her with a small smile and lean my head against her shoulder briefly.

"Most fun I've had in ages." I tell her sweetly. She blushes and offers me a small smile before facing forward again. "It looks like you're the shy and quiet one today." I tell her with an amused smirk. She rolls her eyes at me playfully and offers me a large smile.

"I'm sorry. I was just really nervous about today, I've actually been a bundle of nerves since asking you. I never thought in a million years, that you'd actually want to go out with me, so imagine my surprise when you said yes to this date." She says with a light laugh. We stop walking and stand at the edge of the boardwalk. Quinn suddenly looks twice as nervous as she did a minute ago. "Look, Rachel, I need to be honest with you about something…" I stare at her curiously, just waiting. She takes a deep breath before continuing. "I have had a huge crush on you for years. I think my crush on you started during our freshman year of high school. I remember seeing you around school all the time, holding your head up high, completely ignoring all of the teasing and taunting that was thrown your way. You were just so confident, and genuine, and never scared to be yourself. You never let any of those morons get to you and I always admired that. I think my crush on you grew even more during sophomore year when I heard you sing at the sophomore assembly. Your voice was captivating, angelic and just so damn perfect… You made me feel things that I had never felt before. I completely pined over you throughout high school but was too much of a chicken to approach you, mainly because I thought you and Santana were an item. And then when we entered college and I saw you here, I thought to myself: Now is my chance to get Rachel to notice me. But then I saw that Santana was here too, and had given up hope.

It wasn't until recently, that I learned you and Santana weren't together and that she was actually in a committed relationship with Brittany. So for the past two weeks, I had been forcing myself to approach you as much as possible. And every chance I got to talk to you, was so worth it. Because here we are now, on our first date. And I am so sorry if I am rambling…" Quinn finishes, taking a deep, steadying breath. I stare at her in stunned silence for a few minutes, just gaping at her. She's liked me all of this time… All of this time that I thought she hadn't noticed me, she was there thinking that _I_ hadn't noticed _her_. Crazy shit, right? Just wait until I tell Santana this.

I soon gather my bearings, my stunned look being replaced by a blinding smile. "Quinn…wow." I say. She looks at me sheepishly and bows her head, embarrassedly. I reach my hand up to her chin and lift it so that she is now facing me. "All of this time, I thought that it was _you_ who hadn't noticed _me_." Her eyes widen at my confession, I smile softly at her before continuing. Since she put everything out in the open, I guess it would be fair for me to do the same. "I've had a thing for you since the 9th grade as well. I was too much of a chicken shit to approach you then because in my mind, I didn't think someone as beautiful as you, would want someone as lame as me. So, having that mentality, the thought of approaching you never crossed my mind. And when we entered college and I saw you here, the first thing I wanted to do was work up the courage to at least say 'hi' to you, but like always, I chickened out and spent the first two and a half years of college, completely avoiding you. But in the last week and half, Santana and I had come up with a few plans to get you to notice me. The poetry slam, the pet adoption drive, the _Starbucks_ job, the old-time cinema, the randomly landing in your lap thing? All of that was planned by Santana so that I could get a chance to be noticed by you. And because I was desperate to finally get my chance to win you over, I went along with each and every one of those plans, even if they all ended with me being humiliated. I figured you were worth it." I confess with nothing but pure honesty.

Quinn cracks a smile and takes my hand in hers again. "We sure wasted a lot of time, didn't we?" She says with an amused smirk on her lips. I let out a mock exasperated sigh.

"We totally did." She smiles warmly at me and leans forward, catching my lips with hers. The kiss is sweet and gentle and tastes like cookie dough ice cream. It's the best kiss I have ever had. After a few moments, she pulls back with a dazzling smile placed on her lips.

"Well, let's not waste any more time." And with that, she takes off running towards the Ferris wheel, my hand secured safely in hers.

After 6 long years of pining over, one, Quinn Fabray, I have finally managed to get the girl.

It looks like I've finally been noticed.

_The End_

**A/N: Thank you all for reading! If you would like a sequel to this story, please don't hesitate to ask. I would gladly write one for you all! Hope you enjoyed the story! Until next time!**


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